Protest

Dressed in festive pirate regalia, more than a dozen protesters rallied Saturday afternoon below the Ferris wheel at Balboa Fun Zone, supporting the side yard boat restoration project of Newport Beach shipwright Dennis Holland. Holding pirate flags and picket signs while chanting "Save The Shawnee," the protesters - some coming from hundreds of miles away - attracted the attention of the bustling Saturday crowd, just in front of the ferry to Balboa Island. Waving signage stating "Don't let mediocre minds destroy a great ship" and "Screwing someone legally is still wrong," the group collectively cited The Shawnee's historical significance as their reason for protesting the ordinance that requires Holland to move the boat off his property.

President Obama visited Corona del Mar for a meet-and-greet fundraiser Feb. 16, and the news media reported the event with pictures. Where was the fair and the balanced? Only one brave reporter, Brian Calle with the Orange County Register, reported what he witnessed. The other press members must have been given a lesson on how to distort the truth. Hmmm, who is paying their salaries? As a local patriotic resident of CdM, I began my walk on Coast Highway to meet my girl friends at 7:25 am carrying American flags and our protest signs.

Eight months after its opening drew thousands of protesters to Corona del Mar, I Heart Puppies is closing its retail shop at 2801 E. Coast Hwy., according to a sign in the shop's window. "I Heart Puppies would like to thank the community of CdM for their kindness, generosity and support. Sadly, we are closing our storefront," the sign states. "I Heart Puppies will continue to provide the same quality puppies for sale on our website, where we will be able to offer a larger variety of breeds.

GOLETA - For the second time this season, a Corona del Mar High girls' water polo game came down to a fraction of a second at the end of regulation. Dos Pueblos senior Kodi Hill, who had led the Chargers' stirring second-half rally, was a split-second away from ending it all Saturday. Not just the game, but the Sea Kings' season. She was a blink of the eye from shocking top-seeded CdM and keeping alive Dos Pueblos' quest for a fourth straight CIF Southern Section Division 1 title.

President Obama swept through Corona del Mar on Thursday morning, raking in at least hundreds of thousands of dollars from supporters while rattling the sleepy village. Obama protesters and fans crowded intersections along East Coast Highway, near the entrance to the tony Shore Cliffs neighborhood, the site of a private breakfast fundraiser. Police said the event went smoothly, thanks in part to their heavy presence controlling traffic and crowds. People, dogs and a horse named Sinatra started arriving about 6 a.m. at the intersections between Morning Canyon Road and Poppy Avenue.

Though President Obama's Thursday visit to a breakfast fundraiser in Corona del Mar will be closed to the public, there will be plenty of signs that the Democratic president is visiting a Republican stronghold. Conservative protesters plan to get their points across with demonstrations, though it was unknown Wednesday night whether the presidential motorcade would pass by them. "Our goal is to hopefully get enough coverage that other Americans in other communities across the nation will do the same thing when the president visits their community," said Laura Dietz, a Cameo Shores resident who is organizing a protest on Poppy Avenue and East Coast Highway.

Local Republican activists are planning a rally to greet President Obama when he visits Corona del Mar on Thursday morning for a breakfast fundraiser. "I'm hoping what we can make this one of the most significant political rallies in the history of Newport Beach," said organizer Laura Dietz. "Our goal is to leave him with the distinct impression that California is not going to sit here idly by, that he has California totally in the bag. This is a hard-core campaign. Chicago politics is coming to Corona del Mar. " Dietz held an organizational meeting in her home and plans a Sunday meeting, where Republican supporters will spend six hours making signs for the rally, which she hopes will attract hundreds of people.

A relative of Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad, who has been an outspoken critic of the regime's brutal crackdown on protesters, is scheduled to speak this weekend in Irvine. Majd Jadaan, the sister-in-law of al-Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad, left the country before the uprising began March 15, said Rashad Al-Dabbagh, communication director of the Syrian American Council (SAC). Jadaan will address participants during a fundraising event to support the victims of al-Assad's attacks.

SANTA ANA - Occupy Orange County took a different turn Friday for the two-year anniversary of theU.S. Supreme Courtruling involving Citizens United. They went for laughs. Still, the day in downtown Santa Ana was all about raising awareness of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the January 2010 decision that prohibited the government from limiting funds from independent parties, such as corporations and labor unions, for political purposes. "People driving by will hopefully see the signs saying, 'Corporations are not people,' and, 'Your voice should not equal a dollar bill,' and take that [message]

IRVINE — Three city police officers stood back with nothing to do but watch as Occupy Orange County protesters packed up the last of their supplies during Wednesday's peaceful end of nearly three months of overnight occupation at the Civic Center. Tents, tarps, audio equipment, a podium and other well-worn supplies were loaded into cars beginning at 8 a.m. at the corner of Alton Parkway and Harvard Avenue. Supplies will be transferred to a new site, Fullerton City Hall. "It's kind of a bittersweet thing," said J.B. Wagoner, a protester from Temecula.